Mirage of Destiny
by BluWacky
Summary: A mysterious song returns Hitomi to Gaia after a chilling prophecy which involves friends old and new - yet how does Hitomi relate to the ancient origins of Gaia, the enigmatic deities that control it and the powerful songstress Sora?
1. Beginnings of Cycles

_Was it all just a dream?  Or maybe a vision?_

_No.  It was real.  The dream told me it would happen.  That I would once again return to that mysterious world where the Moon and the Earth hang in the sky.  That Gaia was once more in grave danger.  And that I was even more relevant to the future of that land than I could ever have imagined…_

The barren plain stretched forth endlessly, dotted by cracks and sparse patches of grass which remained the only sign that life had ever existed in this hostile wasteland.  The sky boiled above with clouds whirling around as if controlled from above.  Deafening winds whipped around as the girl stood serenely, uncomprehendingly, amidst the chaos around her.

The girl's attention was caught by the sound of chanting behind her.  Recognising the vague strain of song, she turned towards the source.  A lone feather seemed to hang in the air before her, seemingly untouched by the winds around it.  Reaching out to touch it, the girl's hand was stung by some unseen force.

Withdrawing sharply, she recoiled in horror as blood began to drip from the end of the feather in a steady flow, congealing as it struck the ground in a grimy puddle.  Cold laughter pealed around her as an image formed in the sky of a young woman chanting some peculiar, beautiful song, as a tall man in dark robes stood in shadows behind her holding some kind of glimmering blue orb.  The song grew to a deafening crescendo of horrifying beauty as the laughter threatened to overwhelm her.  As she turned away in terror, the world crumbled away around her…

She was left floating in darkness, nothing extending around her like a blanket.  Soon, however, the emptiness was invaded by the soft sound of the young woman's voice, once more chanting – this time in recognisable words…

"An Angel of Light, with an armour of power

His Disciple, of strength hitherto unknown

The Knight, one of many, yet 

A Mirror, who both sides of the world can be shown

The Healer, still needed although in great peril

The Fox, once in shadows, revealed by the sun

The Goddess, who shapes all the paths that are taken

The Caster, of these the yet unknowing one

The Pillar, tall-standing, and solid as stone

Completing the cycle, and forming a whole

These all must be brought to the Heavenly City

Lest destiny shatter, and futures yet fall."

The voice faded away softly into nothingness, a snatch of a melody whisked away in a breeze.  Reaching out in the direction she believed the voice was coming from, the girl felt herself slipping away into unconsciousness as she groggily stared at her hands…

Hitomi woke with a start, sweat-drenched hands clutching at her bed sheet.  Breathing heavily, she sat for a moment, thinking through what she had just seen.  Just a dream, she thought.  No more visions, no more fortunes, no more destinies – she'd given all that up a short while ago.  As she stared out towards the moon, its reflected light shining into the centre of her room, she didn't know whether she could believe herself any more.

Heavy sunlight shone over the school grounds.  A slight breeze ruffled through Hitomi's hair as she sped down the pathways towards the athletics ground, half-heartedly fumbling with her sneakers as she went.  Having had the whole morning to mull over the previous night's events instead of paying attention to her teachers, she revelled in the opportunity for some release by running. 

Hitomi had changed little over the past six months.  She was still the same auburn-haired, slightly skinny sixteen year-old she had been when she had first visited Gaia.  Every so often she would contemplate how she had ever reached it, when the Energist Van had pulled out from the hideous beast that had attacked him had somehow reacted to Hitomi.  Although she later came to understand the power of the pendant she had held and how it granted her the power to make wishes come true, she couldn't recall ever having wished to go with Van – quite the opposite, in fact.

Hitomi had mentioned nothing to anyone of her pivotal role in the victory of the small band of rebels she had called friends in the struggle against the Zaibach Empire's plots to thrust Gaea into a world of manipulated destiny.  She frowned thoughtfully as she raced up to Yukari, her best friend, who seemed to have forgotten the day that Hitomi had vanished into the sky - not once, but twice when Hitomi returned to the past in a moment of desperation.  Yukari's recently acquired boyfriend Amano seemed oblivious to the situation as well - indeed, oblivious to almost everything EXCEPT Yukari.  Hitomi giggled slightly as she remembered her one time crush on the athletics captain, who had moved back to Japan after his parents divorced suddenly to continue his studies and athletic training.

"Let me guess, day-dreaming again?" inquired Yukari, folding her arms in mock anger at her former rival for Amano's affections.

A slight flash of sadness crossed Hitomi's eyes for a moment, but this went unnoticed by Yukari, who continued a tirade against Hitomi's ineffectual timekeeping as the athlete fumbled with her shoelaces.

"This reflects badly on me too, you know!  As your official best friend, I should be making sure you perform to your optimum condition! I've gone along with your crazy schemes enough times recently - what with that long jump fixation you had, and all that cross country running, and you even tried doing some WORK for once! Hitomi, are you even listening to me? Hello?"

Hitomi stood up and gave a beaming smile.  "Of course, Yukari!  Wish me luck!" she shouted, as she ran off to get started on her race.

"Hitomi! Wait! I haven't finished..." called Yukari after her.

Amano walked over from the stands and draped his arm around Yukari's shoulders.  "That girl is so strange" he mused quietly, hugging Yukari gently, "She's all happy one moment, and broody the next."

"PMT?" suggested Yukari mischievously, at which Amano went bright red.

"Ready?"

Hitomi set her feet on the starting blocks.

"Set?"

She tensed, ready to spring forth.  The thrill of running had never left her, yet now she could never forget the moment when she had run this same race and collided with such an unpredictable destiny.  Every time she raced, she prayed that she would make it through untouched, that she wouldn't be reminded of Van.

"GO!"

Hitomi shot off from the blocks, pelting down the track.  She could barely hear the encouragement of Yukari and Amano as she sped past, the breeze whipping past her.

"Just a little further..." she thought to herself.  The memory of Van was as strong as ever, she could see him turning quizzically, dressed in armour, laden with weapons to destroy an unearthly beast... and she collided with a tree.

As Hitomi raced headlong into the trunk, Yukari and Amano raced over to check how she was.

"What did you do that for, you stupid oaf?" admonished Yukari, while Amano bent his head over Hitomi.

"Apart from a few bruises, I guess she'll be fine!" he announced laconically, and walked off.

Hitomi quickly dusted herself down, cursing herself privately for not looking where she was going.  As she limped off to get changed back into her school uniform, she heard someone shout from behind her.

"Kanzaki! Hitomi Kanzaki? Wait up!"

Hitomi turned round to see a boy of around her age running towards her.  Asano Takeuchi had recently transferred schools as he moved into the district.  He had quickly gained a reputation for being elusive, as his average height and build cut an unassuming figure.  He kept his black hair short, and dressed just neatly enough to avoid reprimand without taking due care of himself.  Hitomi had hardly ever spoken to him before except when apologising for bumping into each other, and was certainly not close friends with him.

Asano came to a halt, breathing rapidly.  "Sorry to bother you," he said in quick bursts of air, "but I've got a favour to ask you."

Hitomi looked puzzled.  "Okay then, what do you want me to do?"

"Oh, sorry about the tree - hope it didn't hurt much.  Anyway, I was wondering... could you... give me a hand with some English?"

Hitomi was vaguely flattered.  Asano's only distinction was his gift at languages, and although Hitomi reckoned she was pretty good at foreign languages (her forays into reading Atlantean text seemed to have helped her somewhat), she could barely keep up with Asano's streams of chatter with their teacher in classes.  "Are you sure I can help?" she asked quizzically.

"I hope so! Sorry to be so forthright and everything, but I've got my notepad on me right now!" said Asano cheerily, producing a small pad of paper and a pencil from inside his jacket pocket.

Hitomi momentarily felt a pang of guilt.  She wanted to help - sure, having her ego pandered to was good - but she wasn't sure if Van would have approved.  Her vision of the previous night was still fresh in her mind, and Hitomi was unsure as to where it would lead.  But self-confidence eventually won out, and she accompanied Asano over to the benches.  Yukari and Amano looked over in vague bemusement, coupled with some VERY strange looks from Yukari (who had noticed Hitomi's reticence to talk to many people recently except Yukari and Amano, since she had given up the tarot readings that her less close friends had often pestered her for).

"Okay, where do we start?" Hitomi asked, sitting down gingerly.

"Umm... okay.... well..." Asano mumbled, embarrassed by the situation. "I've got to write a letter to a friend in England..."

As Asano began to explain the situation, toying nervously with a ring on his finger, Hitomi stopped listening.  A strange chord seemed to sound on the air, almost inaudibly.  Hitomi turned towards the sound, but seeing nothing she returned her focus to Asano's letter.

"Sorry, I switched off for a moment there, why are you writing again?" she asked.

Asano lifted his head from the pad of paper slowly.  "Did you hear that noise too?" he asked.

Hitomi was taken aback slightly.  "What noise?" she stammered.  "I didn't hear anything."

"You didn't hear some sort of... I don't know, something resonating all around you slightly then dying away?"

"No, of course not.  You've got to be imagining things." Hitomi lied through her teeth.

The chord sounded slightly again, then grew louder.  The strange synthesised noise became clearly audible, but as Hitomi looked around in panic she could see that no-one around her was reacting in the slightest to it.

The chord abruptly ended, to be replaced by the serenely beautiful song of the previous night, its haunting melody playing across the air.  The small breeze that had been blowing past seemed to pick up slightly, rustling the trees and scattering blossoms through the air.  A strange blue glow seemed to suffuse the air around Hitomi.

Asano began looking around him in a wild frenzy, his jaw working as if he was trying to speak.  Finally, he shouted out "What's happening!".

Yukari and Amano turned to see Hitomi and Asano bathed in a blueish sheen of shimmering light that rippled in the sunshine.  Hitomi stood up from the benches and pelted away from Asano quickly, screaming "No! I can't go back! I promised!"

"Hitomi!" Yukari cried out, and began to run after her friend, hotly pursued by Amano with Asano shouting "Who's singing?" in blind confusion after them.

Hitomi looked around her as she ran.  The blue light intensified around her, and she felt herself being lifted into the air with each step.  Eventually, the blue light became unbearably intense, washing over Hitomi completely as she was lifted away into the sky to the place she thought she would never see again – Gaia.

"Have you done as I asked?"

"Yes, master."

"I sense….complications in your statement."

"They are extraneous details.  You need not concern yourself with them, my lord."

"I shall deal with such complexities in MY way.  Do not forget that.  I do assume these were accidental?"

"I would not act against your desires, master."

"These shall make little difference anyway.  Nothing can redirect the motion of destiny I shall implement.  And the Wing Goddess shall be mine."


	2. The Winged Reapers

The young man walked carefully through the forest.  A slight red vest hung loosely from his lithe frame, daubed with mud to act as camouflage in the dense woodland.  A sword, concealed inside a dull blue sheath, hung at his side, and the young man's hand strayed towards it in seeming idleness at each step.

A snapping sound behind him caused the youth to stop.  He lifted his head slightly, otherwise remaining poised and alert.  After a few moments, the young man began to pace off again as he started humming a tune warily to himself.

After a few paces, he once again paused in his tracks.  In one fluid movement, he drew his sword swiftly from its sheath, the sharpened blade flashing briefly in the moonlight, and spun quickly round, weapon readied as though to face an assailant, shouting "Come out!  I know you're there!" his eyes focused intently in front of him, betraying little emotion.

After a short pause, a figure stepped out of the shadows of the forest.  The young man looked quizzical for a moment, and then sighed resignedly.

"Celena, WHY are you following me?"

"Your Highness, I merely wished to enquire as to why you decided to depart from the safety of the city at night, when there are numerous beasts that..." Celena Schezar was dressed in shimmering court regalia, her flowing dress somehow kept gracefully clear of the ground she walked on.  A hurried course in etiquette had impressed Celena with the art of decorum, and she held herself with dignity befitting someone of her rank.  She opened her mouth to speak haughtily again.

"Drop the act, Celena.  You're certainly not fooling me.  I suspect no true dignitary would have understood the last sentence you said."  The young man smiled wearily, and turned to continue through the bushes, re-sheathing his sword.

"Don't you DARE!" shouted Celena, as all semblance of nobility seemed to drain away and she relaxed into a less dignified pose as she stumbled after him in her high-heeled shoes. "I need to talk to you!"

Van Fanel turned his head over his shoulder nonchalantly.  "Alright, alright.  There's no way we're going any further while you're dressed like that.  Think what your brother would say!"

"Ha ha, very funny.  Let's go back to Fanelia then, Most Gracious One." retorted Celena, sticking her tongue out mischievously and walking back towards the distant lights of Fanelia, pausing only to shake her shoes off, flinging them into the undergrowth with a satisfying flick of her feet.

Van sighed openly, gazing wistfully at the isolation of the forest, and turned to follow Celena.

Celena Schezar sat with her legs crossed on her bed.  As a guest of the Fanelian Royal Family - well, the King at any rate - she had been given lavish quarters close to the King's own.  Being only a few months younger than Van, the two had grown quite close, despite a few weeks of frostiness resulting from the events surrounding Fanelia's war with the Zaibach Empire.  Her grey-tinged hair was cut short, although not cropped close in a tomboyish fashion, and she had changed out of the gown she had been wearing to attend a ball to celebrate the election of the new hypnotist of Freid into less formal trousers and shirt.  She toyed with her cuffs in boredom as she waited for Van to meet her.

Celena, although she retained a memory of virtually everything she had felt and done as her magically-engineered maniacal alter-ego Dilandau, was not exactly proud of her achievements on the battlefield.  In order to atone for the damage she had dealt to Fanelia and its allies, she had offered to help with the restoration work on those buildings which had been burnt many months ago.  Van had accepted the offer, with the proviso that Celena was to attend classes to teach her what she had missed out on whilst under Zaibach's control.  In the course of the past few months, Celena had covered for so many of Van's mysterious absences (which invariably seemed to involve sitting alone in the country staring up at the sky, a practice Celena never really wished to join in with) that he became her friend out of gratitude, despite his qualms about her also being his arch-enemy of previous times.

A sharp knock on the door indicated Van's presence.  Celena called "Come in! I'm decent!" unfolding her legs and shifting over to the edge of the bed.

The door opened slowly, and Van slipped round.

"You didn't bother to change for me?  How sweet." Celena said dryly.  "Anyway, sit down over there somewhere." She waved idly towards a chair leaning against the wall.  "I just want a quick chat, that's all."

Van pulled the chair closer to Celena's bed and sat down wearily, dropping one hand resignedly into his lap, the other going to his pocket.  "This had better be quick, Celena," he sighed, looking faintly exasperated.  "You interrupted me while I..."

"Was busy pining over you-know-who?" Celena flopped back on the bed, staring up at the ornate decorations of Fanelia's history on the ceiling.  "You are so predictable, you know that!  Every few days you pull the whole I-must-be-alone-and-gaze-in-sorrow trick, and it's really beginning to annoy me!  You both said you'd never forget each other, right?"

"EXACTLY!" shouted Van, rising passionately to his feet.  "How can I forget her?  How can you know how I feel? I might never see her again..."

Celena sat upright again, her eyes blazing in anger.  "How do you think I felt when you murdered the Dragonslayers?  They're gone FOREVER!"

Van fell abruptly silent, simmering with rage.  Celena looked shocked for a moment, then bowed her head.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly.  "I shouldn't have said that."

Van breathed deeply, saying nothing for a while.  Celena looked at him briefly, trying to gauge her friend's mood, and then turned slightly away.  Both looked distant, distracted from each other as they tried to avoid their glances.  The grandfather clock opposite Van, decorated with wooden patterns, ticked relentlessly.  Lights passed outside the window as the palace staff performed their final errands for the evening, as maids snuggled close to porters for warmth in the chill night air.

Light footsteps padded down the corridor outside Celena's chambers.  They stopped outside her door, and a quick, polite rap came at the door.  Neither Van nor Celena answered, yet the door was pushed open from the other side.

A small, furry face peeped round the door, asking "Celena?  Are you here?"

Catching sight of Van in the corner, the face filled with joy, and the door swung open fully as Merle ran in, dropping the bundle of towels she had been carrying, crying "VAAAAAAAAN!" as she leapt at her long-time friend.

Merle had decided she ought to do something useful with her life rather than hang on to Van's side at all times.  Seeing as she knew absolutely nothing about politics, Van had recruited her as a part-time ambassador abroad when dealing with others of her species, and as an overseer of the many restoration projects of Fanelia.  Of course, Merle relished the chance to boss as many people about as possible, and had proved adept at her role, managing a few acrobatic methods of building that would have foxed any ordinary foreman.

Merle buried her neck in Van's shirt, seemingly oblivious to the tension about her.  Van stood stiffly, as though slightly embarrassed, although Merle had done this so often in front of Celena she would normally hardly notice.

Merle glanced up at Van's face to speak, but then stopped when she saw the stony look in his eyes.  She withdrew slightly, her tail twitching in concern.  Then she leapt onto the bed next to Celena, landing on all fours and thrusting her nose in Celena's face.

"Big fight, huh?" she asked frivolously, causing Celena to laugh in spite of herself.  "Let me guess – the Hitomi Issue?  If only he could look past that spoilt brat and see the wonderful, lovely me…" she sighed in mock wistfulness.

Van opened his mouth to berate Merle for making fun of him, but stopped short.  A pink glow seemed to be emanating from his pocket.  Drawing out his hand, he was shocked to see Hitomi's pendant shining with iridescent light.

"What's going on?" Celena gasped, having never seen the pendant as anything except a stone on a string, although she had learnt of its mysterious powers when Hitomi had used it against her cloaked Guymelef many times.

Van laid his palm out flat, and the pendant began to lift up into the air, heading towards the centre of the room.  Floating higher and higher, it began to shine ever brighter, turning blue.  Light suddenly exploded forth from the pendant, flooding the room in a bright flash.  Celena and Merle screamed, grabbing each other in shock, while Van looked up towards the pendant with a strange, wistful expression on his face.

A whispered fragment of two voices entwined in songs echoed around the room.  One was unknown to Van – a woman's voice, chanting ethereally.  The other, like the sound of a thousand monks chanting in unison, was all too familiar – "Escaflowne…Escaflowne…"

The light cleared slowly.  Merle withdrew from Celena, her fur standing on end, blinking to clear her eyes.  Celena looked around, and gasped in shock.

Lying on the floor of the bedroom were three people she had never seen before.  And the other had been her worst enemy in recent times – Hitomi Kanzaki, the Girl From the Mystic Moon.

Yukari blinked rapidly, trying to clear the after image of the blinding light from her eyes.  She recalled running after Hitomi, then light surrounding her from all sides, and a strange feeling of weightlessness, then falling forward.  There was obviously something wrong, she reasoned, as these kinds of things don't happen every day.  The feel of carpet beneath her hands instead of tarmac also seemed to indicate that something strange was going on.

Yukari's new surroundings began to swim into focus around her.  She could see that she was in some sort of room, and a splendid one at that.  Ornaments topped a small table in the corner, in the shapes of various buildings of splendid architecture.  Yukari was slightly taken aback to see the dark night vaguely through a window above her, as she had last been basking in broad sunshine before the strange events of earlier.

Yukari's attention was caught by some whispering coming from her left.  Pushing herself up from the floor, she turned to accost whoever was there.

Sitting on the bed were two girls.  One was dressed almost as a tomboy, although her hair was too well attended to be truly rebellious, and stopped talking when she saw Yukari.  The other, however, challenged Yukari's considerable intellect to comprehend.

"You're….a….cat?" stuttered Yukari, her eyes wide open in surprise, for once in her life lost for a vaguely witty remark.

The cat…girl….thing looked round at Yukari, then spoke in some strange language, her eyes dancing from side to side.  The tomboy also began speaking quickly, in a more angered tone, rising from the bed and gesticulating wildly.

Yukari, flustered, tried to apologise.  "I'm sorry, I've never seen anyth…one like that before, sorry to be rude, and I don't understand you, and I don't know where I am…" she said, chewing at a fingernail.

The two strangers began to talk to each other again, loudly and quickly, each becoming slightly more agitated.  Yukari noticed another person standing in the corner of the room – a young man of around her age, dressed almost shabbily yet still commanding an air of respect, although he appeared slight – not saying anything, just staring down at the floor near Yukari.

She turned round sharply, accidentally kicking something on the floor.

"Ouch!  As if these spots in front of my eyes aren't enough, now I'll have a blinding headache to help me out!" A familiar voice groaned at Yukari's feet, as Amano sat up sharply, almost hitting his head on the bed behind him.

"Amano?  Where are we?  And what are they saying?" Yukari beseeched her boyfriend, her brow furrowed in confusion.

"What makes you think I'd know?" Amano retorted, wincing slightly as he stood up.  "I've been listening to them screaming at you, and don't have a clue what they're on about!  What about the other two?  Or hadn't you noticed them?" Amano waved his arm down at the floor, where Asano and Hitomi were slowly stirring.

"Asano?  Hitomi?  WHAT'S GOING ON! And back off, fur face, I don't know where you've been!" Yukari hissed through clenched teeth, all her composure draining away as the strange cat girl moved across the bed towards her.

Hitomi sat bolt upright, her eyes wide in shock, and returned the gaze of the mysterious man in the corner.  "Van?" she whispered, looking uneasy.

Amano glanced at Hitomi quickly, a faint trace of irritation crossing his face.  "You know that guy?" he asked, vaguely puzzled.

"Once." She replied softly, but then broke contact with the mysterious stranger, turning her face away.  The young man looked hurt, and started to talk in that strange tongue, as the girls continued hurriedly chatting to each other.

"WAIT!  HOLD IT!" shouted Yukari, and the entire room turned towards her, including the bleary-eyed Asano.  "Guys, WHAT is going on here?"

Hitomi got wearily to her feet, brushing dust off her running shorts.  "I think I'd better explain, seeing as Celena, Merle and Van don't speak our language."  Sighing briefly, she began to retell the story of the Girl from the Mystic Moon.

The small room at the top of the tower shimmered with pale green light, reflecting from every mirrored surface.  Each wall seemed to reach on endlessly, as the light danced between infinite spaces to touch some invisible space beyond comprehension.  At the centre, the elfin girl stood, singing triumphantly to the incandescent walls around her.  Each and every note rang pure, chiming into the deepest recesses of the rock surrounding her chamber.  Her ornate dress, decorated with strange symbols, seemed to flow around her, and her long, cascading white hair billowed out around her as the song continued.

The distant sound of echoing footsteps caused the girl to stop singing.  The light faded away into nothing but a stream of streaked sunlight from the small window in the very top of the room, illuminating the small bed which indicated a home for the girl.

The footsteps came to a halt, though from where they came the girl was unaware.  A deep, commanding voice boomed around the walls.

"Sora, tell me of the Goddess."

The girl bowed deeply, sincere respect glowing in her eyes.  "She is here and yet not.  The Goddess is everywhere you seek, master."

"Do not speak in riddles, Sora!"  The voice snapped out, echoing harshly.  A moment of silence followed before the voice returned.

"They shall bring her here.  The Wing Goddess shall not divine fate readily, for she is known to me.  And because of this, she is already mine."

The council chamber of the palace of Fanelia had been re-created by Van's mother Varie from a design she recalled in her Draconian ancestry.  A large round polished stone table, with plush chairs set around it, stood in the middle of the room, decorated with a map of the known world.  An enormous bay window looked out over the city of Fanelia, flanked on both sides by imposing mountains, and sky dragons could be seen wheeling around the valley in the distance.  A small desk in the corner was piled with parchments, covered in melted wax from a solitary candle.  

The group had assembled the following morning after Hitomi had explained her story to Asano, Amano and Yukari (who had difficulty getting her head around the idea that Hitomi had vanished in front of her twice yet she couldn't remember anything about it), in order to discuss Hitomi's prophetic vision.

Van was puzzled by Hitomi's reaction to him.  He was overjoyed to see her – he'd hoped she'd feel the same way about him.  The last time he had seen Hitomi he had been separated from her by worlds – his image appearing briefly over the sea.  She had told him she was doing just fine, and he'd left it at that.  But now… Hitomi was purposefully ignoring him, avoiding his eyes whenever she could, and now she'd chosen to sit as far from him as possible at the council table, facing away from him.  He slipped quietly into his reserved seat, concentrating little on the events around him as he tried to fathom out what was going on.  Asano flopped down next to him, exhausted by all the excitement and feeling slightly rejected as the only real outsider among the company.

Everyone sat in silence.  Amano scratched at his chin, while Yukari rested her head on his shoulder in boredom.  Merle fiddled with her nail file absently, while Celena gazed at the ceiling nervously as Hitomi stared out of the window.  A flock of birds flew past the window, while distant sounds indicated activity in the palace.

Van finally broke the heavy silence by slamming his fist down on the table.  "What's the problem?  Why won't you talk to me?  Why won't you say ANYTHING!" he shouted at Hitomi.

She stood up and turned towards Van, her eyes brimming with tears.  "Because I'm doing just fine, that's why!" Hitomi cried, making to leave without explaining.

As she began to run off, the council room began to shudder and jerk.  Hitomi was knocked off her feet and fell to the floor, crying out in shock.  Van looked pained, but then turned away in anger as he heard shouts of disorder and panic from all around.

A shout echoed down the corridor in panic, as a soldier cried out "The palace is under attack!  Everybody, to arms!"

Van rose quickly from his seat, breaking into a sprint as he left the room, with everyone in hot pursuit except the four from the Mystic Moon, as Hitomi lay sobbing incoherently on the floor.

The throne room of the palace was strewn with rubble from the large hole that had been blasted in the eastern wall.  Aides lay trapped under heavy stone, as soldiers raced to get the injured courtiers to safety.  Tapestries, shredded by the blast, still hung in tatters on the walls.

Van burst through the entrance, drawing his sword and readying himself to fight.  "Who are you?  Why are you doing this? Come out and fight!" he shouted, his head darting this way and that to search out an unseen foe.

A harsh female voice rang out at him from Van's right.  "We are here for the Wing Goddess.  It is our destiny to bring her to Venal.  And our fate shall not be disturbed!"

Van turned to his right and looked out to the open skies around the castle.  Floating above him were countless women, all dressed in pure white robes, beating blood red wings to keep themselves aloft.  Each woman was wearing a necklace made of shining blue beads, which shimmered mysteriously in the morning light, yet otherwise wore no other apparent armaments, save for one at the front, who wore a simple leather bracelet around her right wrist and appeared to be the leader.

Astonished, Van took a step back, steadying his sword.  "I know of no Wing Goddess, but you have invaded my kingdom, and as King of Fanelia I will not let this stand!"

The woman at the front gave a cold, dispassionate laugh.  "You pathetic creature!  You think to defend your kingdom against Atlanteans with a sword!  Your Path is of destruction – travel it now! GO! I shall have the Wing Goddess – Nesta, the boy is yours!"

The winged woman flew rapidly back towards the council room with a large number of her cohorts, while those remaining began to swoop down towards the throne room.

Van concentrated for a moment, forming an image in his mind.  Two small buds grew from his back, expanding out, until they burst forth into his own white feathered wings from his shirt.

Assorted cries of astonishment rang out from the Atlanteans.  The one addressed as Nesta halted in her tracks.  "What is this!" she cried in anguish.  "Wings of your own?  Another tactic is in order!"

Nesta swiftly raised one hand above her head, and a crackling ball of light formed in her clenched fist as her necklace began to pulsate with throbbing blue energy.  "Take THIS!"  she shouted, as she hurled the energy at Van.

Quickly beating his wings, Van dodged out of the way as the ball of light crashed into the floor, spiralling high into the air above the throne room in a whirlwind of moulting feathers to escape the explosion below him, evading further balls of light as Nesta cursed him.

Van swung round and dived at the nearest Atlantean, his sword in front of him ready to strike.  Floating there calmly, the Atlantean merely smiled as Van drew closer, her eyes shimmering with the same blue colour as her necklace.

Van shouted in triumph as he raised the sword above his head, plummeting close to the Atlantean.

Celena, hidden behind a pillar, watched in horror as the battle unfolded.  Nesta continued hurling spheres of light at Van even as he dived at the Atlantean, while others flocked around him, attempting to slash at Van with daggers which had been concealed in amongst their robes.

Merle crouched behind Celena, cowering in fear.  "No, Van! Don't! There's something wrong!" she whimpered, digging in to Celena's leg.

Celena turned to her friend.  "Go!" she hissed.  "Warn the others! They've got to be safe!"

"How do you expect me to do that?" Merle spat back in panic.  "Only Hitomi understands me, and she hardly wants to talk to anyone at the moment!"

"JUST DO SOMETHING!" Celena shouted in spite of herself.

One of the Atlanteans suddenly looked round directly at the pillar where the girls were hiding.

"Run, Merle! I'll handle this!" Celena shouted, running out from behind the pillar.  Merle scampered off back through the doorway of the throne room, not even pausing to look behind her.

The Atlantean who had heard the shout beckoned a group over to her, and they began to glide down towards Celena, who stood unmoving in front of them.

The Atlanteans glanced at one another and landed, their wings dissolving away into nothing.  One smiled slightly, drawing her concealed dagger, and walked slowly forward.

Celena was now in a blind panic.  "Why am I doing this?  I should be getting away, I can't do anything!" she though to herself.

"You can't, but I can."


	3. Emerging Alternates

Amano hugged himself slightly, trying to keep himself warm.  He was still wearing his athletics shorts and shirt from the previous day (all attempts to communicate the desire for clothing the previous day with the maid who showed him his room had been unsurprisingly fruitless), and although the sun was shining, the atmosphere in the council chamber was as cold as ice.

Hitomi had managed to regain some semblance of composure and was sitting in one of the chairs again, with Yukari beside her.  Hitomi seemed but a shadow of the cheerful, dryly humorous girl who had a crush on Amano only a few months ago, as she sat, pale and withdrawn, snivelling faintly pathetically.  Asano was standing near the door in an attempt to keep watch for any intruders, though he glanced worriedly at Amano frequently as if asking questions Amano had no idea how to answer.  

Yukari, however, was feeling particularly sympathetic, and was making it perfectly clear to Hitomi just how uncompassionate she was feeling.

"Stop that pathetic noise RIGHT NOW!" she shouted, colour rising to her cheeks as Yukari clenched her fists at her sides, a picture of fury.  "You've not told us everything, have you?  There's something REALLY going on with you and that guy – not that he's not good looking, but – WHAT'S THE PROBLEM!"

Hitomi took a few deep breaths, trying to calm her nerves.  She spoke falteringly, staring at her feet frequently and darely baring to look Yukari in the eye.

"I told you that Van destroyed the Atlantis Machine, didn't I?"

"Yeah?  He flew into it and disrupted that Zone of… something or other.  What's that got to do with now?"

"I didn't tell you why he did it, did I?"

"Well, to end the war with Zaibach, right?" Yukari looked puzzled.

Hitomi began to blush slightly, although her eyes were still red from crying.  She opened her mouth to speak, but stopped, biting her lip instead.  After a moment, she almost whispered "He did it because I said I loved him."

The Atlantean moved closer towards Celena, whipping her knife through the air and laughing.  "There is no escape, girl!" she threatened, pointing the weapon at Celena's throat.  "The path of your destiny is at an end!  I already foresee it!"

Celena began to back towards the pillar, all attempts at bravery forgotten in the face of death.  She sank down with her back pressed to the intricate stonework, her face locked with the piercing blue eyes of her assailant bearing down on her.

"No!" she thought to herself, an inner conflict taking control of her mind as she shut off from the certain doom awaiting herself.  "You can't!"

"Things change, Celena.  You're not who you were – I'm not who I was.  I am still here, however, and I can help you."

"How can I trust you? After what you've done – what we've done…"  The Atlantean raised the knife high, triumph shining on her face as Celena stared uncomprehendingly into destruction.

"No time now.  Let me out…"

The Atlantean plunged her weapon down towards her victim's chest, the taste of victory on her lips.  "YOU ARE MINE!" she cried maniacally.

She hardly had time to comprehend what had happened before Dilandau grabbed the Atlantean's arms, twisted the knife and thrust it straight into her chest.

Van's sword whistled though the air towards the unmoving woman, almost singing as it sliced the atmosphere towards its target.

The Atlantean finally spoke.  "My wish is too strong," she said placidly, faith glowing in her expression, "and although you are winged, your fate is unswerving.  I shall not be harmed – forget this foolish assault, and deliver the Wing Goddess unto us."

Van paid no heed to the woman's words, and stabbed at her.  His confidence turned to amazement as each blow missed her by inches, slashing through empty air as though Van could barely control his weapon.

The Atlantean looked almost pityingly at Van as he continued to attempt to attack her, before striking him with her own dagger.  Although the blow was only shallow, Van's surprise knocked him back and he fell to the floor, feathers streaming upwards above him as his wings dissolved into nothingness.  Just before he hit his head on the floor and blacked out, the last thing Van seemed to see was Celena, surrounded by the prone forms of winged women, grasping a knife dripping with blood in her right hand and gasping deeply.

Amano was slightly taken aback.  He could cope with the fact that Hitomi no longer had a crush on him – it had smoothed the path between him and Yukari, that was certain – but that she had transferred her attentions onto someone younger, shorter and (to Amano at least) completely alien was slightly galling.  Asano, seeing slight jealousy cross the elder boy's face, stifled a chuckle in the face of the explosions which seemed to be coming from all around them.

"Then, one day, I was waiting at the train station," Hitomi continued, seeming to gain confidence with each sentence after she had revealed her secret, "and I saw him above the waters.  He was wearing my grandmother's pendant, and he was just…watching me, I don't know.  So I told him that I was doing just fine – and I was, I'd been coping.  But the vision I had, and now… I've gone back on my word.  I didn't need anything like a promise of eternal love – we were supposed to go on with our lives, never forgetting each other but never obsessing.  How can I do that now?  I'm back in a land I thought I'd never see again, with the person I thought I could never be truly in love with once more, and it's making me so unhappy!  My being here will mean that something terrible will happen to Gaia once again – and I don't want that!"

"Oh, Hitomi…" Yukari's eyes softened and she hugged her best friend quietly.  "I'm so sorry.  I don't really understand how you feel, but now I see why this is so hard on you.  Why can't you just let go of that though, and just feel grateful that Van's here?"

"It doesn't work like that!  There's too much at stake rather than just me – the last time I was so selfish, I ruined the lives of those closest to me, nearly killing them in the process!"

Hitomi suddenly stopped and gasped.  She seemed to hear some kind of chime in her mind, as the room dissolved away around her to reveal red feathers raining down around her.  Turning in terror, she raised her arms in front of her in self defense as a woman with red wings ran towards her, a maniacal gleam in her eyes.  As the woman drew close, Hitomi could see that one side of her face was pale white, with an eye that seemed lifeless yet innocent at once, while the other was burned away, a coal black eye blazing with hatred…

Hitomi snapped out of her reverie almost as soon as she had entered it.  Gasping for breath, she rose quickly from her seat, and shouted to her friends – "There's something coming!  Hide! Run! Just GET AWAY!"

Blinding light washed through the council room as the great glass window shattered violently, thrown outwards in a massive explosion that knocked everyone to the floor.  As the light cleared, Hitomi looked up to see a band of women such as the ones she had seen in her vision floating above her, wearing white robes and shimmering blue necklaces.  Most of them hung back, but one, wearing a leather bracelet on her right wrist, descended slowly to the floor, her feathers melting away in the sunlight and dripping a red liquid onto the floor as she landed.

Hitomi crawled quickly under the great stone table, which had survived the blast, to attempt to hide from the attackers.  Yukari and Amano lay unmoving on the floor, while Asano, a gash to his forehead bleeding slightly, was attempting to stand up by the doorway, propping himself against the wall.  

As Hitomi moved closer to the centre of the table, her hand rested on something cold and hard.  Taking it, she saw that Van had dropped her grandmother's pendant in his rush to leave and confront the invaders.  She gasped loudly in recognition, remembering too late that she was avoiding detection.

The winged woman turned towards the table.  "Wing Goddess!  You must come with us, to Venal.  Do not try to resist – you should not wish to.  You shall realise your true destiny if you come to Venal.  I am Leah, Queen of the Atlanteans, Messenger of Venal.  Come to me!"

"NO!"  Asano shouted across the room, seeming slightly unsteady on his feet as he stood against the wall, staring at the winged woman.  "Whatever it is you want you can't have it!  How can you just attack like this?  What do you want?"

"Asano!  Don't!" cried Hitomi from beneath the table.  Unbeknownst to her, the pendant began to glow softly in her hand.

Leah looked across the room at Asano, his hand clutched at his head to stop the bleeding.  She raised her hand to chest height, her palm facing outwards.  The necklace she wore began to throb with blue light, and lightning began to crackle around her fingertips, dancing around her hand like fireflies around a lantern.  Asano looked resolutely at the Atlantean, his eyes defiant in the face of danger.

The winged woman smiled grimly.  "I hear the defiance of fate coursing through your voice.  The tongue does not matter – merely the emotion shows you wish to alter an unchangeable course.  The Wing Goddess has not yet awakened – the flow of destiny shall not be altered for you.  The course of your fate has ended.  I am sorry for you, strange one, but no-one shall stop us."  Leah moved her hand back slightly, and then , with an almost graceful movement, threw the lightning towards Asano.

Hitomi cried out from beneath the table in horror.  "NO! ASANO!"

Again, a strange chime seemed to resound from deep within Hitomi's soul, as her pendant burst into dazzling light that spread out in waves from her, flooding the room around her.  Leah screamed in agony as the light hit her, the lightning dissipating from the air before her.

Hitomi's eyes began to clear slightly, to find that she was floating in a totally white space, stretching off for infinity.  Opposite her, she saw Asano, his face smeared with drying blood, standing astonished some distance away from her.

"Hitomi?  Where are we?  What happened to those winged women?  What did they want?"

Hitomi opened her mouth to retort that she had no idea what was going on, but found herself speaking in an eerily familiar voice – that of the woman who had prophesied to her so recently.

"All your questions shall be answered in time.  Venal shall not succeed without some resistance from me.  Although I can do little now, I can at least awaken the sleeping Dragon within you, Caster."

"Hitomi, is there something wrong?  You sound…weird."

"There is no time for this. Hudor is within you now.  The others will co-operate if Venal does not reach them first.  You have your part to play, Caster – do so."

Asano gazed in wonder as a faint image seemed to appear behind Hitomi.

"Wings…" he breathed, enraptured by their beauty as they unfolded, seeming to shine incandescently.

A screech filled the air around the two teenagers as the white space dissolved away.  Hitomi found herself beneath the table, still clutching the pendant which was humming gently with white light.

Leah staggered around the table, clutching her face with her hands. "My eyes!  I can't see!" she screamed in horror, as the Atlanteans above her tried to regain some sort of composure at the strange turn of events.

Asano felt his head gingerly.  His wound seemed to have cleared away miraculously, though traces of dried blood still matted his hair.  Looking towards Leah, he remembered the danger he was in.

"What was Hitomi talking about?  And what was that whole Caster thing…" he thought quickly to himself.

"Never mind now.  Open yourself to me." A strange, deep rumbling voice echoed through the vaults of Asano's mind.  Unthinkingly, he seemed to comply.

Asano's eyes widened, turning from their usual green colour to a deep, aquamarine blue.  His posture shifted, standing up straighter and more imposingly from his usual enclosed look.  Small droplets of water began to rise from the floor beneath him, flowing faster and faster around him in an aura of waves.  Leah turned towards the sound of the torrent, uncovering one eye while still clutching at her face in agony.

"What is this!" she cried, stepping backwards as her wings falteringly formed around her back.  "Your fate, the path has diverged!  This cannot be!"

Water spun around Asano, an intense concentration evident upon his fate.  Amano and Yukari, regaining consciousness slowly, lay transfixed by fear at what was happening.

Asano spoke in a booming voice.  "You have left us no choice," he uttered, raising his eyes to lock with Leah's ruined face.  "Now you must leave."

The water exploded forth from around Asano in a crushing torrent, which blasted straight into Leah as she attempted to fly from the ground.  Screaming in fear, the waves pummelled her back through the window and high into the sky, before leaving her to plummet to almost certain death, her ruined wings streaming blood-red feathers above her in a plaintive cavalcade, her fellow Atlanteans flying rapidly after her falling body and crying out in terror.

Asano's eyes regained their green colour as he slumped to the ground, exhausted.  Hitomi crawled out from under the table and stood wearily at the scene of destruction around her.

Yukari got slowly to her feet, helping Amano up as he winced slightly.  "Well, that was interesting," she remarked dryly, brushing her skirt off.  "Anything else you want to try explaining to us, Hitomi?"

"Stop it!  Stop relying on me!" Hitomi rounded on her friend.   "I don't know what's happening, okay!  This is….so terrifying…"

Merle burst into the room on all fours, panting hurriedly, her eyes wild with fear.  "Celena said to warn…you…." Merle stopped, and gazed at the devastated room.  "I guess you already know, then."

"Where's Van?" Hitomi asked.

"He's in trouble!  They surrounded him…"

"Let's go!" Asano tried to get up, but the effort had tired him too much, and he slumped back down to the ground.

"Yukari, Amano, stay with Asano!" Hitomi ran rapidly out the door, shouting behind her.  "I'll be back!"

Merle and Hitomi raced down the intricate corridors of the palace until they reached the throne room.

The Atlanteans had vanished, probably as a result of the defeat of their leader.  Celena stood at the head of the dead body of one Atlantean, holding the dead woman's knife encrusted with dried blood.  She turned to the girls in horror, stuttering as she spoke. "I….I…"

Merle ran over to hug Celena, while Hitomi looked round in panic for any sign of Van.

He was lying unconscious on the floor, white feathers strewn around him. Hitomi ran over to him, picking him up in her arms.

"Van…I'm so sorry, this is my fault!" Hitomi began crying, clutching Van in sorrow.

He began to stir slightly, murmuring Hitomi's name as she sobbed.  She looked at his face tenderly, wiping the tears from her eyes so that he wouldn't see her sorrow.

"Hitomi?" Van looked up into the teary eyes of the Girl from the Mystic Moon.

"I'm sorry I've been so horrible.  I tried to live on without you – how can I do that now?  I went back home – to Earth – because it was the right thing to do, how can I just go back on that?" Hitomi's voice was wracked with choked sobs.

"Does it matter?  While you're here, we have each other.  Can't that be enough?" Van raised his arms up, and pulled Hitomi to him, embracing her in their first, and most passionate, kiss.

Leah's necklace glowed bright blue as she plummeted down towards the stony streets of Fanelia.  She began to slow, and eventually floated in mid-air, her robes soaked through with water as she clutched at her face.

"Forgive me, Venal!" she cried.  "I am still capable!  Let me try once more!  The Wing Goddess is still not awakened; I can avert the path opposing ours!"

A voice rang out in the air, yet unheard by those below.  "Pitiful creature!  However, elements remain…inexplicable.  I will let you continue.  However, do not expect such salvation whenever you fail.  Gods cannot always provide what is sought…"

"Sora!"

The girl awoke with a start as the fierce, pounding steps thudded around her, shaking loose the cement that held the barren bricks of the room together.  She sat up quickly, her eyes betraying no fear, though she shook slightly.

"Those factors we spoke of are more than insignificant!  Are you diverting the course of destiny in a direction I have not chosen?"  
"No, my master.  I would not.  I cannot do such a thing." Sora spoke calmly, huddled in her bed sheets to ward off the cold.  "You alone are the master of my fate.  I merely enact that which must be."

"I did not ordain this!  Who is interfering in my plans…" The voice trailed off momentarily, and then chuckled slightly.  "He would not dare.  But she… this requires thought.  Do not hope to deceive me; Sora – you know your fate, that which cannot be avoided."

"I understand, my lord." Sora replied, her voice ringing clear around the musty room.

Footsteps echoed away from the tower, and Sora slipped out of bed.  Padding across to the middle of the chamber, her feet muddied and harsh from never knowing shoes, she gazed at the ceiling for a moment towards the faint trickle of light that slipped through, before beginning to sing.

The walls responded, shimmering in response to the joyous sound of Sora's voice.  So caught up in it was she, that Sora could not hear the sound of another, older voice singing a pure, yet almost lifeless harmony in the background…

"Your Majesty!  The damage to the palace is great, although the invaders chose not to harm any other areas of Fanelia.  Thankfully, their single-mindedness in the pursuit of your guest caused your people little alarm, and their morale is boosted by their retreat.  The building work shall be shouldered by your militia until such time as they are needed again, sir."

"Thank you, Rem."  Van shook the stocky lieutenant's hand as he dismissed him from his chambers.  After the soldier had left, Van turned back to the assembled company behind him, and sighed in exasperation, before saying "Well?"

Van's chambers were the most opulent of those in the palace, although he had expressed a wish to "keep things simple".  However, the livelihoods of many of Fanelia's craftsmen depended on revamping the monarch's dwellings after each new coronation, and they had spared no expense after the restoration of Fanelia had begun in earnest after the previous war.  Thankfully, the invasion of the ones that had called themselves Atlanteans had not attacked any of the living quarters, and the casualties had been few.  The bright tapestries, featuring wild fabrications of events in the war against Zaibach, had been untouched by the hands that had laid waste to the throne room.  The only painting which Van had allowed had been of the Mystic Moon, Earth, hanging in the sky above Fanelia, which faced his carved wooden bed.

Although the chambers were roomy, with their own private facilities, Van had decided that those involved in the council meeting should actually discuss the recent situation somewhere less devastated, and had chosen his quarters.  Celena and Merle sat subdued on the bad, while those from Earth had gathered by the portrait of their home planet, talking nervously amongst themselves.

Van looked at the silent gathering for a while, as everyone nervously glanced away from each other.  After around a minute of endless tension, Amano threw his arms up in the air in exasperation, and said simply "What now?"

Hitomi crossed the room to the door, resting against the wooden panels with her arms crossed over her chest where everyone could see her.  In the short time after she and Van had…reconciled somewhat, he had provided her with a change of clothes – she was vaguely embarrassed to discover that Van had ordered the Fanelian seamstresses to create versions of the uniform Hitomi had worn for much of her prior time in Gaia.  Imbued with a material woven amongst the usual fibres that seemed to lighten the clothing, Hitomi was immediately comfortable in the familiar clothes, and had already slipped her grandmother's pendant back over her neck to hang under them, since Van seemed no longer to have any pressing need.

After a moment's concentration, she explained her vision, occasionally looking at Van for support, and relayed what had happened to each group as an intermediary translator.  When she finished, Celena looked up, still downcast but with a vaguely equivocal look in her eyes.

"About that prophecy thing… it's not really much of a mystery, is it?" she said.

"What do you mean?" Van, his focus on Hitomi for much of the time, turned to his friend, ruffling his hair absently.  "It's so cryptic, I have no idea where to start finding these people!"

"Come ON, Van!" Celena's spirits seemed to return slightly for the first time since Dilandau appeared.  "Don't you see the obvious parallels to people we know?  The Angel – well, that's obviously you, I can't think of anyone else with wings and an enormous Guymelef – and the Disciple is probably Merle…"

"I resent that!" hissed Merle, her eyes narrowing in a fierce glare.  "I do have other interests than Lord Van!"

"Sure you do, Merle.  Well, the Knight's probably my brother – how many women go weak at the knees for him, yet never stay in a relationship?  Sorry, Hitomi, nothing personal of course!  The Mirror…" Celena looked vaguely uncomfortable, shifting on the bed slightly, "I guess the Mirror is probably me – the description seems to fit, and I suspect Dilandau would agree with me."

"I don't understand – I thought Dilandau was a product of the Zaibach magicians' experiments, controlled by drugs.  How can he still be in there?"  Steel control in Van's voice just covered the fear he felt of the resurgence of Celena's alternate personality.

"He hasn't really said anything about it to me.  He seems content to remain in the background though – I don't know if he…we… ever really recovered from Jajuka's sacrifice, and the shock of what he did is not easy to bear.

"Anyway, the Healer – well, Princess Millerna always had medical aspirations, didn't she?"

"What about the description?  The woman said she was in great danger!  What might have happened to Millerna?" Hitomi was vaguely panicked by the idea, and her eyebrows furrowed in concern.

"That's not important.  We all need to be sure about who we need first, before we go traipsing off to find them.  Don't interrupt, Van," Celena said, breaking off mid flow to stifle Van's imminent protests, "we are coming with you, it seems like we're needed for something important.  The Fox is probably Dryden – these things always seem to work like this, bringing old friends back together – and from what Hitomi's just told us, that guy there," – Celena jerked her thumb over to where Asano was standing, desperately trying to work out what the Gaians were saying – "sounds like the Caster.  Those women said that Hitomi was a Goddess, which seems to fit, but now all we need is a Pillar."

"Wait a moment, stop talking!" Yukari angled her head quizzically at Hitomi.  "Tell us what she's saying!"

After Hitomi relayed the prior conversation, vague consternation crossing her face over her unwanted role as interpreter, Yukari thought for a moment, scratching absently at her cheek, Celena wincing slightly as she did so.

"Looks to me like Amano and I have got something to do with this then," Yukari finally said, her finger raised in the air authoritatively as she stated her opinion.  "So I suggest we both go along with you to find the rest of these people, and that city thing, and we can sort out which of us gets to be a pillar later – though I suspect Amano is stubborn enough!"  Her boyfriend looked vaguely hurt, and elbowed Yukari in the ribs, Asano suppressing a laugh as he did so.

Hitomi's pendant began to shimmer, as the chord which had echoed in Hitomi's mind previously seemed to burst out into the room.  Almost as soon as it had done so, the room fell silent again, and the pendant dimmed once more.

"Well, that was obviously important."  Yukari dryly remarked.

Merle turned to the Earth girl, her back arched in annoyance.  "Are you always this sarcastic?" she growled, "It's SO aggravating!"

Yukari opened her mouth to retort, but stopped and turned to Asano.  "Did I just understand what that ca…rismatic young lady said?"

"Obviously, our coming together was destined." Van addressed the group, attempting to convey some regal authority in his words.  "Something has happened that enables us all to understand each other.  I suppose this means that we should find some way of getting the rest of the group together?"

"I'm glad that's done!" Hitomi smiled and laughed.  "If I'd had to have carried on translating I think I'd have died of boredom!"

Freezing winds whipped through the icy tundra, tossing snow in a blinding dance across the skies as they were accustomed to every day.  The mountains that surrounded the valley loomed dazzlingly white as a tall figure, wrapped in thin, dark, sodden robes bordered with luxuriant gold trimmings and wearing boots as black as night, walked through the blizzard, shielding his eyes from the glaring light with one hand as he futilely brushed his hair out of his eyes as the wind cascaded it before him.  He seemed to forge through the mounds of snowfall as if it melted before him, so purposeful was his gait.

The ravine came to an abrupt end in a vast circular chasm, a monumental glacier standing in the middle that towered high, seeming to almost pierce the barren grey skies above.  The glassy ice shimmered with reflections as the man approached, stopping to look with vague amusement at his face in the scintillating crystal and scratching at the stubble that marked his chin.

The look of humour faded from the man's face, to be replaced with a wistful expression as he stared up at the towering ice for a while, oblivious to the wrath of Nature venting itself around him.  He pressed one hand to the frozen pillar briefly, sighing slightly, then turned away to return to whence he came.

After a few steps, the man stopped, turning back towards the icy pinnacle.

"Clothos…" the man murmured under his breath, before continuing his return journey, away from the imploring hand that stretched towards him from within the ice…


	4. Origins of Hope

The skies were cloudless for the first time since Asano's arrival on Gaia.  The sun illuminated the forest as the group trudged on, led by Van's purposeful stride through well worn pathways.  Strange creatures stopped sniffing around the ground to stare at the passing party, their oblong snouts turning disdainfully up at Asano's mud-stained school trousers – he could only wonder how Amano must feel, considering that he was still wearing his athletics shorts!  Ducking to avoid a branch that Celena had let flick back into his face while giggling slightly and moving ahead, Asano was slightly uneasy.  While he was unnerved by Gaia – no matter how often Asano had dreamed of getting away from his mundane school life like so many other teenagers, he hadn't thought of going THIS far away – that didn't seem to be bothering him half as much as the feeling of being tugged away against his will that had started since that…thing inside of him had woken up.

Asano frowned to himself.  He was quite surprised at how normal he still felt, despite the fact that only yesterday he had been surrounded by a raging vortex of water at his command.  He didn't even feel particularly powerful or anything like that.  Apart from the strange sensation that he needed to get somewhere extremely desperately, that was. 

"Asano!"  Hitomi detached herself from Van's arm and waited for her classmate to catch up to her.  She had been used to the endless walking after her last trip to Gaia – Asano's feet, on the other hand, were beginning to ache, and his shirt, damp with sweat, clung to his back.

"Yeah, Hitomi?" Asano panted, wiping his forehead on his sleeve.

"I just wanted a word about yesterday.  This is going to sound crazy, but…you don't have wings do you?"

"Not that I've noticed over the past sixteen years, sorry, no.  Not every guy is going to have great big fluffy wings sprouting out of their backs on command like His Majesty up there."  Asano stopped talking before he said anything else, flummoxed as to why he said anything like that – he'd only learnt to speak the same language as Van about an hour ago, and he was already being rude about him!

Hitomi, seeming not to notice, carried on talking, lowering her voice slightly as if conspiring with Asano.  "I had just wondered if you were a Draconian too, like Van is.  What that voice said, about awakening the Dragon inside you…it just confused me, that's all.  Any idea of what she meant?"

"I can't think of anything off-hand.  Though if some sort of lizard thing comes bursting out of my stomach any time soon I'll let you know."

Hitomi laughed loudly, causing Van to turn his head in puzzlement, shooting a wary glance at Asano.  "You're so WEIRD!"  Sighing slightly, she recovered her composure.  "I hope this life-threatening battle for Gaia is going to be a lot more fun than the last one – Van was always so serious last time round."  Van stiffened slightly, his posture shifting to become slightly hurt yet also almost menacing.

Hitomi, seeing Van's coolness, quickly hurried back to the head of the group.

"Tough crowd, Asano?" Yukari crept up behind him, whispering in his ear.  "Don't even think about making any moves on her, by the way - "

Asano spluttered indignantly as Yukari rejoined Amano, wrapping her arms around him and smiling adoringly up at his face.  He wasn't even THINKING about that.  Well, not really, anyway.  Especially as he was sure that there was something stuck in his shoe that was REALLY hurting now.

The small glade was illuminated by beams of sunlight drifting lazily through the dense woodland.  Somehow well kept, although human feet hardly ever trod the soft grass around, there was unusually little sign of animal life for such a remote area – birds perched in the surrounding trees in an awed silence, while occasionally small, deer-like creatures bounded through the shadowy woodland.

The one sign of disturbance was the enormous, faded monument that stood in this peaceful vale.  Towering above the gathered teenagers, the infamous Guymelef Escaflowne, dormant for only a short while, loomed over them, browning from lack of use.  A mixture of respect and sorrow lined Van's face as he stared up at the guardian machine that had been a pivotal part of his life so recently.

"I don't know if this has crossed anyone else's mind," said Merle archly, playing absently with her nail file once more, "but how are we supposed to get everyone, and Escaflowne, out of Fanelia?  We don't have anything like the Crusade to carry a Guymelef in, and Escaflowne can't support so many people in Dragon mode – just getting three people on there was enough of a squeeze – I remember Hitomi telling me how she and Allen…"

"THAT'S ENOUGH, MERLE!" Hitomi and Celena shouted in unison, glaring at each other with the same irate expression before turning away and folding their arms in similar defiant poses.

"I've already thought of that," Van said calmly, turning towards the group.  "I thought that Hitomi could use her powers…"

"Wait a minute, Van."  Hitomi looked concerned.  "I thought we went through this once before – I'm not some kind of tool to be used by anyone."

"Why are you being so difficult?" Van looked exasperated, raising his hands ineffectually.  "I didn't mean it like that – anyway, you need to do this as much as I do; it sounds like we all need to stick together to avoid whatever disaster could befall Fanelia now."

"I can't control it!" Hitomi pleaded, almost whining, completely changed from the happy girl of only moments before.  "I didn't bring myself here – I can't explain it, like the first time we were both transported to Gaia!  The time when we were attacked in Fanelia I panicked, and when I returned to Earth I didn't really know what I was doing either!  What makes you think I can get all of us out of here?  Where are we going anyway?"

"Calm down, Hitomi."  Amano walked over to the girl, her fists clenched tightly in defiance, and placed his hand on her shoulder.  "While I would like to know where we're supposed to be going," he said, looking inquiringly at Van, "I have faith that Hitomi can get us there – she seems to be able to do an awful lot of things I didn't think she could!"

"Let's go to Asturia!" Celena piped up, an excited look on her face.  "We can get my brother and Millerna to come along, and I'm sure that someone will have an idea where we can find Dryden – and we can also pick up the Crusade while we're there, although I don't know what the crew have been up to since I came to Fanelia."

"Sounds like a good idea," Yukari said laconically, leaning against a tree.  "Why don't we just go straight to another place I've never heard of before!"

"It's settled then."  Van used his authority once more, attempting to stand imposingly in front of the assembled teenagers, although Amano's towering height did little for Van's ego.  "We travel to Asturia – if Hitomi will help us…" Van looked imploringly at Hitomi, who remained defiant.

"Hitomi, I think I understand why you're so reluctant about all this." Amano turned Hitomi's head towards him, her eyes still defiant and angry.  "Last time you did all these mystical things, there was that war or something?"

Hitomi nodded, softening slightly.  Asano, unnoticed, frowned at the intimacy of Amano's touch as inappropriate – after all, she did seem to be Van's girlfriend.

"This time, if you don't help, you'll probably only put this planet in danger – and yourself.  Those winged people will come back here – where did they go, anyway?"

Van shifted uneasily.  "Rem said that they vanished – that red liquid Hitomi saw when Leah came to attack her didn't seem to appear anywhere, and there's no trace of their presence save the destruction to the palace.  We can't predict their next move – and there's no record of any Venal existing anywhere either."

"Okay.  Well, anyway, if you don't at least try to get us out of here, they'll come after you – and if we don't go anywhere, that prophecy of yours will never get fulfilled, and that destiny shattering thing might come into effect."

Hitomi looked up at Amano.  "Can I do it right?" she half-whispered.

"Of course you can."

Hitomi withdrew from Amano, radiating steely resolve.  "Right then!" she said exuberantly, a rejuvenated glimmer in her eyes.  "Let's give this a try! Well, first of all, I think you should re-awaken Escaflowne, Van.  It might help – it certainly seemed to when we last transported out of Fanelia."  
Van sighed with a mixture of relief and anxiety.  "Looks like I'll have to bring it back again, then." He turned to face the enormous machine, its dormant form seeming almost benign in such tranquil surroundings.

Van reached into the pocket of his trousers and brought out a strange, spherical pink object which Hitomi recognised as an Energist, the heart of a dragon required to power the mysterious Guymelef.  Unsheathing his sword, he cut a small nick in his thumb, letting a thick drop of dark blood run down onto the Energist, seeming to flow away into nothing.  Raising the Energist above his head, Van shouted in a commandeering voice at the ancient weapon before him, the Energist shining with an eerie bright light:  
"I, Van Fanel, king of Fanelia, re-affirm my blood pact to thee, Escaflowne!  Thou sleeping dragon, awake!"

The glade erupted into bright light from around Van's feet, swirling upwards with an unseen wind towards the sky, a look of almost peaceful concentration upon Van's face midst the blinding chaos around him.  Yukari shielded her eyes against Amano's shirt, as Hitomi stared at the familiar sight once more.

Asano watched in awe as cracks in the withered armour before him began to heal over, and the brown colour began to fade into a pure, clean white.  The tarnish covering what appeared to be green gems set in the shoulders seemed to melt away from the centre, allowing the illustrious sheen of expense to shine out.  Dirt dropped away from hinges and joints to vaporise upon contact with the ground, sending up small hisses of water as they did so.

The light around Van began to fade away, and he opened his eyes to see his re-awakened birthright before him.  Hoisting himself up onto the sitting giant, he plunged the Energist into what had appeared to be a solid red gem on the left of the armour's chest plate, withdrawing his hand as the gem flowed back into shape.

A pulsating sound came from within Escaflowne as a beat resounded once more from the heart of the machine as the Dragon Armour re-awakened, the glade falling silent once more.

Sora did not know where the voice came from.  She only heard the sound of footsteps echoing towards her whenever he – she assumed it was male, the voice was so different from hers – wished to speak.  She only knew that it had been the only thing that had shown her kindness as long as she remembered, although tempered with anger.  The voice had given her a home, food and clothing, which all seemed to appear in the tower after Sora had slept, and she was almost totally free to do as she wished, though she had to grant the voice one request – to know what Sora sang of.

Sora had known the song for as long as she could remember – before she could speak, she had weaved the intricate instrumentation with her voice to amuse herself with the stories it told.  When she was young, the song had been of majestic beasts – the voice had named them horses – racing through fields thick with luscious green grass unlike the murky moss that infested the walls of Sora's home, or of indistinct figures whirling in dances that Sora practiced herself, remembering each elegant step with precision.

The feel of the song had changed a while ago for Sora.  She began to see people who looked as she imagined she did, going about tasks that seemed incomprehensible to the girl.  Some showed men attacking each other with strange metal implements, sometimes taking their lives.  The graphic detail of the discordant harmonies of death made Sora shudder, yet such songs seemed to come more frequently to the girl.  There were others – of those like Sora welcoming men who lived home with a smile and laughter, or those who were bereft of their partners crying bitterly with sorrow.  The voice had told Sora this was because of something called love, where the men and women each felt bonded to each other forever.

Sora did not totally understand this concept – indeed, such permanency frightened her in her world of ever changing melodies.  However, she continued to sing, enthralled by the images of things happening beyond the borderless world of her tower.

A very short time ago, Sora noticed the song held the same basic pattern as she was drawn to two figures.  One male, the other female, they were distant, yet seemingly linked by chords and harmonies too complex for Sora to understand in her singing.  At this time, Sora listened as the sound re-echoed of their vacant separation, and resolved to change it to bring something unexpected into the song's repeated cycle.  Concentrating hard, she sang a new note.

Sora was shocked by the overall change in the song, waves of alteration rippling through its fabric even as she sang joyously.  The resonance of the connection between the two figures became more distinct, as Sora felt herself flowing through the soaring music that joined them together.  When she felt the rhythm and soul of the music falter somehow – she caught snatched memories of the sound of a slap echoing through the air, and the horrible crunch of bone as something fearsome pierced through flesh – she altered her tune to compensate, eager to keep such beauty alive.

The voice's visits became more often after it learned of such things.  One time, it promised Sora that she could meet these two figures, if she would only aid it in bringing them to her.  Eager to comply, she sang the song which was required of her – visualising shimmering blue light that rippled and cascaded upon her voice like the instrument the voice had told her was called a harp – and felt the melody change around her.

The complex system of notes that bonded the two figures together became ever brighter, yet Sora's images of them seemed to become ever more difficult to perceive.  Sometimes they shifted sharply into focus – to reveal one looking on as the other was locked tight into the embrace of another, elusive figure, or when one lay lifelessly on an echoing stone floor, eyes staring uncomprehendingly at the ceiling – yet soon faded away, until Sora could see none of what transpired of the two.

The voice became quite angered at learning of this, and often demanded more of Sora than she was able to supply, though she dealt with this calmly.  The voice often seemed to mutter to itself – Sora was sure she had heard the mention of someone called Isaac, though she had not sung of any such person, and her attempts to do so were met with dull, flat melodies that never picked up into the joyous chorus that provided Sora with her stories.

Then the voice came to Sora once more, asking her to create the sound of the shimmering blue light once more.  Sora had done so, although she had noticed the tune was changed somewhat – there seemed to be more harmonies interwoven with the main melody, one almost crying in despair, the others pure and unsullied.  After this, she had been shocked to see the images of the male and female figures once more in her songs – with some bonds weakened, yet others strengthened, between the two.  Sometimes they flashed into clarity – she had recently been startled to discover her singing of them inside a room far different from the one she lived in, and had informed the voice of its description swiftly.

Sora had even taken to asking questions idly in her songs, and was hardly surprised when the notes seemed to cry answers at her.  They told her that the female figure was what the voice sought – the Goddess of Wings, the Wing Goddess, whatever it was that the voice called her.  The desperation to find her coursed through the voice every time it spoke, and Sora was eager to quell such despair by helping as much as she could.  It was the least she could do for someone who had shown her such kindness.

Hitomi held the pendant before her, closing her eyes softly.  The familiar pulse of timing beat steadily in her mind as she swung the pendant carefully, feeling it trace through the air as it crossed in front of her.

"Take us to Asturia, please!" Hitomi whispered under her breath, all her concentration focused on her task.  The others looked on nervously, unsure of the outcome of Hitomi's efforts.

"I sure hope she knows what she's doing," Yukari whispered to Amano, her eyes full of concern, "as I certainly don't!"

A glow began to spread from the pendant, slowly illuminating the glade once more, but in a gentler suffusion rather than the blast of light that heralded the re-awakening of Escaflowne.  The heart of Escaflowne began to shimmer with the same white light, as Hitomi felt herself being lifted once more into the air.  
As they were lifted high by the beam of light, Van was startled to see the image of his mother, Varie, seeming to drift before him.

"Van, my son," she said, smiling and reaching a hand out as if to caress him for a moment, "take care.  Our meetings are such for now – and I dread the day we meet again…"

Van tried to grasp his mother, but she seemed to slip away at his touch as the group was carried away into the skies, followed by the majestic figure of Escaflowne, until the light cleared to reveal the empty clearing, bedecked by creatures gazing towards the skies expectantly as small particles of light diffused away into nothingness.


	5. The Wistful Cavalier

The covered wagon, obviously heavily laden with merchandise from the surrounding areas, creaked through the cobbled streets of Palas, careening around unstably as the aged horse which pulled it ambled inanely forwards.  The driver, a gaunt man with glasses perched on the end of his nose, appeared vaguely asleep to those watching from behind their market stalls in the bustling squares and alleyways that characterised the sprawling capital of Asturia, only stirring when the horse strayed too close to the gutters or nearly trampled some poor unsuspecting child beneath its hooves.

The wagon drove on relentlessly, passing through a deserted by way in an attempt to make a short cut to its destination.  The sun cast long shadows that loomed on the high walls of the surrounding homes, as the horse gave a half hearted whinny in senile fear.

"Whoa there, Chand," the driver muttered, rubbing at his eyes, "What's wrong here then?"

The driver turned to look behind him to see a swarthy, thick set man standing behind the cart, dressed in a grimy tunic and trousers and idly tossing a knife in one hand.  His stance suggested arrogance, though a small twitch below his left eye seemed to betray a slight nervousness, as his free hand lay close to his pocket, ready draw on the daggers which could be seen within, glinting in the sunlight.

"Looks like you've got yourself a fine load there, mister?" the man said, smiling wickedly.

"Exquisite silk, bound for the weaver's stalls.  I mean you no harm, sir, please don't intimidate old Chand here," the driver hastily said, glancing at the nervous horse and seeing that three men had appeared in front of the wagon.

"Didn't anyone tell you?  King Aston's ordered a new toll system on this road – you've got to pay the price to get through here, of say… half your silk?"

"And if I refuse?"

"Do you know anyone who's refused to pay the toll?"

"I don't think I'll bother thanks.  But you can still have my wares!"

The brigands barely had time to be surprised by the driver's sudden backbone before the covering of the wagon was ripped off from the inside to reveal three men, clad in brilliant white shirts with blue jackets and trousers, who leapt off the wagon, drawing their swords from their sheathes and racing for the robbers.

"Ah, Lestine!  We meet at last!" one, tall with long blonde hair that cascaded to below his shoulders, shouted as he thrust his sword forth with a twisting motion at the large man who had blocked the return path for the wagon.

"Allen Schezar!  So our little scheme won't last much longer – but I'll go down fighting!" Lestine growled with hatred, expertly using his thin knife to block the Knight Caeli's blow and jabbing forward, causing Allen to leap back quickly.

"Marc!  Vilisca!  Take care of them – I'll deal with Lestine!" he called out to his companions, who were already busy with fighting the other criminals in the alley.

Lestine advanced further forward, with surprising grace given his bulk, throwing a seemingly inexhaustible supply of sharp daggers at Allen, who deflected some with a quick flick of his blade whilst weaving away from the others, although painfully aware that Lestine was forcing him to back up against the cart.

Lestine saw Allen falter for a moment, and seized the opportunity to throw another dagger straight for his throat.  Seeing the threat only just in time, Allen ducked to one side to have the knife sheer off a few strands of hair.

"Close," he said, raising his eyebrows in surprise, "but I will bring you to justice!"

Allen tensed himself, then leapt impossible high into the air, flipping backwards to land on the back of the cart once more, readying his sword once again.

Lestine looked impressed.  "I didn't realise that the Knights Caeli were so well trained in the art of combat," he said, unconsciously retreating from his opponent, "But your chivalry shall be your undoing, Allen Schezar!"

"On the contrary, my Lord Lestine.  Honour is what shall win me this fight – the honour of Asturia."

Lestine growled with anger and sprung at the cart, his knife held at shoulder height ready to stab at Allen.  The knight moved back over the wooden planks that supported him, his sword before him braced for the impact.

Leaping heavily onto the cart, Lestine suddenly changed his stance with a swift motion, holding his forward and jabbing quickly at his opponent.  Allen, ever the fighter, anticipated the change in tactics, and speedily deflected the blade, his sword glinting in the fresh morning sunlight as a flock of sea gulls wheeled overhead, chattering and calling out to each other.

Lestine was sweating heavily as blow after blow was deflected by Allen's superior swordsmanship, and his arm was beginning to falter.  In a last ditch effort, he fumbled in his pocket, searching for another weapon to attack the knight with.

However, Allen's sharp reflexes spotted the movement and, sensing an opening in Lestine's defences, kicked the brigand in the chest in a fluid motion.

Lestine, gasping, fell backwards, tripping over a knothole in the wood.  Slipping over and swearing, he struck his head on the planks and fell silent, his head lolling to one side in unconsciousness.

Allen re-sheathed his sword slowly, taking a moment to savour the peaceful atmosphere.  The two other knights had made swift work of Lestine's inexperienced lackeys and had chosen to leave them lying in the street until they regained consciousness so they could re-consider their choice of lifestyle.  Lestine, however, deserved no such second chance, and Allen bound the brigand's hands with thick rope after checking that there was no excessive damage done to Lestine's skull from the fall.

The wagon driver looked sullen as Allen left a small bag of coins on the cart along with the prone body of Lestine.

"Many thanks for the use of your wagon, sir.  Please could you take Lestine to the palace before you continue your journey?  Thank you again for your time." Allen bowed courteously to the driver, who merely shrugged nonchalantly and set off once more, cursing Chand as the old horse feebly moved forwards again.

"Another criminal brought to justice, Magister!" Marc, a fourteen year old only recently chosen as a Knight Caeli at the suggestion of the young Duke Chid of Freid who already showed promise with the blade despite the hot-headedness of youth that hampered his progress in the other martial skills, turned with a smile to Allen.  "Palas is at least partially safer now!"

"As always, Marc, as always."  Allen sighed wistfully, turning his eyes towards the sky resignedly.

"Cheer up, Allen.  Shouldn't you be glad that we're no longer at war?"  Vilisca, three years older than Allen yet happy to defer to the younger man's superior skill, sat polishing his sword in the middle of the street, looking concernedly at his leader.  "You have your sister back, Palas is at peace, and…" Vilisca smirked dirtily, "Princess Millerna is available again…"

"Stop that!" Allen snapped, his normal composure ruffled.  "I am in no way interested in the Princess, as lovely as she is."

"Allen Schezar, the knight that every woman in Palas claims to know intimately, ISN'T interested in the Princess of our country that rumour had already…made some progress with you last year?"  Vilisca's smirk had grown wider into a grin, as he revelled in the fun he was baiting Allen with.

"I won't have such gossip amongst the Knights Caeli!" Allen turned, his hair flung majestically behind him in indignation, as he began to stride towards the palace and King Aston to report his progress.  "Especially during Millerna's absence!"

Vilisca and Marc hung back slightly as they followed, wary of the young man's temper.  Allen was lost deep in reflective thought, hardly thinking of the two of them as he considered where his heart truly did lie…

"Magister of the Knights Caeli, do you have any further information regarding the whereabouts of my daughter?"  King Aston had lost weight recently, as his baggy clothes, not yet re-tailored to fit, showed, and he chewed at his knuckles with nervousness unbefitting of such a regal figure.  His chief advisors stood worriedly at his side for support as Allen knelt before his king, while Eries, his eldest living daughter, stood back behind a pillar to observe the goings-on, un-noticed by all the others present.

"No, Your Majesty.  She last reported that she was embarking on a trip to Arzak to establish trade links – she hoped to find new medicines in the jungle there, and gain the co-operation of the lizard shamen who reputedly live therein.  However, she has sent no messages recently, and none of the group that travelled with her have returned."

"I cannot lose another daughter!" Aston shouted angrily.  Eries drew back from her father, her eyes brimming with tears as she listened.

Allen returned the king's gaze evenly and calmly.  "Your Majesty, I don't see why you won't allow me to go and find her.  I am willing…"

"What about Celena? She's your only family, you can hardly abandon her.  I also don't really see you doing this for the right reasons – I'm aware of what there was between Millerna and yourself."

"That is long in the past, King Aston."  Allen looked down at the polished floor of the audience chamber.  "I can assure you that my… relationship with Princess Millerna is now over."

"Yet for Celena's sake, I forbid you to go!"

"Celena is not helpless, Your Majesty." Allen spoke sharply.  "Her experiences in the War have trained her well – I have reason to believe she is as adept with a sword as any man would be…"

"Any _other man, surely?" Aston could barely conceal his anger.  "That thing you call a sister needs re-conditioning to adept to life in Asturia – I cannot forgive the atrocities she perpetrated against her own country so easily!"_

"Father!" Eries rushed out from the pillar, unable to restrain herself any further.  "With all due respect, such bigotry is against what we have stood for!"

"Silence!" Aston roared, sweating heavily.  "Such insolence from my own daughter!  And you, Magister!" he cried, turning on Allen, his eyes simmering with fury, "You dare to question my authority?  You defile the honour of your position and Asturia!"

Allen set his hand at the hilt of his sword unthinkingly, caught up in the heat of the moment.  "King Aston!" he shouted threateningly, as courtiers cowered in fear at the scene before them.  "You are acting in madness!"

The doors to the audience chamber burst open heavily as Marc rushed in, tripping slightly over the green carpet that led towards the throne.  Stopping to stare at the scene in front of him, he took a deep breath before speaking hurriedly.  
"Sorry to intrude, Your Majesty, Princess, Magister… but there's something going on in the courtyard.  I think you should come and see…"

Allen turned and ran after Marc through the hallway of the palace, bedecked with elegant marble statues of the serpentine god that watched Palas' harbour, towards the courtyard of the palace, Eries following behind.  Aston remained at the throne, his head in his hands in sorrow.

As they reached the courtyard, Allen stopped, and stared up at the sky.

Countless pure white feathers poured down from the sky, cascading down like snowflakes upon the courtyard.  As they touched the ground, they flared briefly, before fading away into the air again.  The sound of wings flapping gently seemed to echo around Allen, as the gentle fall seemed to become a blizzard, obscuring his vision with the storm of feathers.

As Allen shielded his eyes from the soft onslaught, he though he could make out the forms of people appearing through the shroud of feathers, though they were obscured by the dense clouds.  Eventually, the fall began to thin, as feathers shimmered away in the air before reaching the ground.

Marc gasped in surprise to see a group of seven people he had never seen before standing in the middle of the courtyard, with an enormous white Guymelef standing behind them.

Hitomi dropped her arm, then replaced the pendant around her neck.  "Looks like we're here, everyone!" she said.  She turned towards Allen.

"Allen…I'm back."

"The soft sounds of feathers drifting on a stone floor… a jarring chord of surprise and confusion…an open space, filled with the songs of nature…I know she is there."

"Palas, then.  Keep me informed, Sora.  Each time you see them, you come closer to meeting them for real – and I know that's what we want.  I shall dispatch some messengers to bring them to us now."

"Thank you, master.  That is very kind of you."

As the sound of footsteps echoed away from her once more, Sora began to sing once more, the familiar flow of sound re-establishing itself.  However, as she began the first syllables of the lyric, she heard a soft, feminine voice chime in her mind.

"Listen…"

Sora gasped, breaking the song before it began.  She had never heard a voice in the song before, only the strains of music that could be interpreted as she wished.  Cautiously, she began to sing again.

"Listen, child…"

Sora steeled herself, and continued singing, almost defiantly crescendoing to combat the voice.

"Listen, child - the songs of life must be heard as well as sung…"

"How?" Sora challenged the intruder in her mind, staccato notes accentuating her defiance.

"He cannot tell you?" The voice rippled with amusement.  "He never did learn about mutual respect."

"Stop that!" Crashing chords underlined the soaring, passionate melody Sora weaved.  "Get out of my mind!"

"Very well.  Bear my words in mind, though – and I shall be listening to you as always.  I would suggest you don't mention this to your master, he probably wouldn't understand. Yet ponder this – think on why you are secluded from that you wish to see – for your sake, or someone else's?"

Sora ended her song triumphantly, belting out the final note as loud as she could to expel the voice from her presence.  The sound of hurried footsteps brought her sharply round from her reverie of song, and she composed herself as the footsteps stopped.

"What was that?" The voice whipped harshly through the air, seeming to strike the stones forcibly.

"It was a song of triumph, master."

"Why?  Tell me, now!"

"At the prospect of bringing you those you wish for."

The voice paused for a moment, as Sora's heart beat faster.  She had never lied to the voice before, nor omitted anything if pressed beyond her usual cryptic replies, and she feared that it would find out and be displeased – she never wanted to do anything that would upset the voice.

"I'm glad to hear it, Sora.  Remember to keep me informed of anything which happens, of course."

Sora remained outwardly placid.  "Of course, my master."

"The audience chamber is clear – I've drugged Father and taken him to bed.  I trust the guards are keeping quiet?"  Eries beckoned Allen through into the audience chamber, as the recently arrived party followed through quickly, Celena taking care not to trip over her dress in her haste.  Allen and Van heaved the heavy wooden doors shut behind them and barred them to entry, as Yukari and Amano took in their surroundings.

"There's only so much impressive architecture you can see in a day," Yukari remarked dryly as they moved through the arched chamber, "without getting disillusioned by it all."

"Leave off with the wisecracks, Yukari," Amano whispered, "I think we should make sure that no-one pays any attention to us at the moment so we have a hope of staying alive!"

"Find somewhere to sit on the floor," hissed Eries quietly as she took a seat by the throne, Allen standing protectively at her side. "Then we can talk properly about what is happening."

Yukari sat ungracefully on the floor, shifting around slightly as she stared bemusedly at the tall knight.  This guy looked exactly like Amano – apart from the long, blonde, slightly effeminate hair and the bizarre clothes, of course.  In an attempt to look inconspicuous, she feigned a look of intense interest and worry at the princess standing before her, while keeping her eyes on the mysterious knight so that Amano couldn't see her checking him out.

Van nervously stood up again and began to pace, quickly outlining what had brought them all to Palas, after introducing Asano, Amano and Yukari (who curtsied and giggled, as Amano gave her an extremely strange look).

"Why does peace only seem to bring us further disaster?" Allen thumped his fist on the throne, his eyes ablaze with anger.  "Everything still seems unexplained about what is happening now!  It seems I must be involved yet again, as the prophecy states – but how can I abandon my country when it mourns the most?"

"What do you mean?" Hitomi worried at the string that held her pendant.

"King Aston is not in his right mind at the moment. His rulings have become erratic and unjust – forgive me, Eries – and he is mad with despair at Millerna's disappearance."

"What?" Celena interrupted sharply.  "Princess Millerna's missing?"

Eries stood wearily.  "After the destruction of the Atlantis Machine, what remained of Emperor Dornkirk was examined by our doctors – including Millerna.  They discovered that Dornkirk's blood had been replaced by some green substance which the captive Zaibach sorcerers had identified as "fortune blood", which may have indirectly caused Folken's death.  This blood, as well as prolonging Dornkirk's life well beyond that of most people, had been powering the machines that Zaibach ran on – the elaborate tram systems, the communication globes, and much of the inner workings of the floating fortresses leeched life from Dornkirk's body.  Some of you had seen the intricate system of tubes that were connected to Dornkirk – we believe these where what connected him to the systems that ran his empire.

"The upshot of all this was that Zaibach society completely collapsed.  Those who had not been involved in the war were left without any provisions for the lives, such had been their dependency on the power Dornkirk had brought them, and were unable to forage for anything themselves – Zaibach had been a barren wasteland long before Dornkirk arrived."

"What has this got to do with Millerna's disappearance?" Celena seemed on edge, glancing towards the door frequently and fidgeting uncomfortably.

"Millerna put an aid program into action, to help restructure Zaibach society so it could function again without Dornkirk.  Father wasn't pleased, to say the least – he feared not only for Millerna's safety, but also that any ideas she gave the people of Zaibach might threaten his own rule.

"Of course, Millerna had her way – she escaped on board the Crusade.  The restoration of Zaibach was an enormous success, restoring faith in Asturia's benevolence – much to Father's relief.  Millerna decided to take on a role as ambassador to those countries that we have little contact with – those at the southern and northern extremities, and the smaller duchies and republics formerly considered to be of no great import to powers such as Asturia.  We learnt our lesson from slighting Freid and Fanelia – my sister sought to learn more about the foreign cultures that we have ignored.

"The last we heard, Millerna had decided to head to the south, to the intense jungles of Arzak.  Dryden had discovered an ancient text that told of a race of sentient reptiles that lived within, and she wished to contact them and investigate their cultures.  However, we've heard nothing for weeks – and Father has already assumed the worst."

"Where is Dryden?" Van looked thoughtful, his brow furrowed.  "Surely he can show us where she went!"

"Dryden's father passed away about two months ago.  Meiden was never close to his son, and Dryden didn't seem to express much concern about it despite the sudden nature of his illness, but shortly afterwards he walked out of a merchant's meeting and left Palas, saying that he was heading out to find his wife.  Millerna and Dryden have never formally divorced, and he was reportedly concerned at her disappearance."

"Damn it!" Van stopped pacing, and turned to Eries.  "We have to find them both!"

"How do you propose we do that?" Eries threw up her hands in exasperation, falling back onto the throne.  "We cannot mine levistones fast enough to power any kind of airships for transport, and what links we have to the Melef manufacturers are hardly helping – we cannot contact Yspano by ourselves, and the Wise Ones of Velfrecht refused to help us. Our rudimentary skills at machine construction cannot hope to utilise the power of Energists effectively enough to mount a further effective expedition. "

"The dragons are currently under your protection, Van."  Allen was leaning forward on the back of King Aston's throne, his chin resting on his hands.  "There is no chance of us mustering a greater force of Melefs to combat these Atlanteans than that which is stationed here in Palas – and I am loath to commit them against an unknown force when the capital itself is hardly free of crime.  Could we use such beasts for an expedition?"

"It's unlikely."  Van scratched at his nose thoughtfully.  "Fanelia protects the dragons, and they protect us, but we have little control over them – they are more difficult to tame than to kill.  Anyway, only the land dragons inhabit the Valley – to reach Arzak will involve crossing the Sea of Asta, and we'd need control of either the water or sky dragons if there were to be any hope of us making headway towards the south.  Escaflowne can only carry three people at most, and even then only intimately."

"Then there's the matter of finding Dryden – if he is indeed this Fox character you speak of.  What of these winged women also?"

"They have powers over fate," Hitomi said, "but not like my pendant.  Like the Fortune Blood, they seem to be able to choose possibilities – Van couldn't hit them with his sword, and only through utter chance did we have any hope of beating them.  I thought that the Atlanteans were wiped out by some disaster involving the creation of Gaia thousands of years ago?"

"I, too, believed there to be no remnant of the Atlantean race – save for Van's Draconian blood."  Allen looked thoughtful.  "In the Mystic Valley, we saw no possibility of life remaining in the ruins of Atlantis.  This is extremely puzzling."

"This story of Atlantis sounds strange anyway."  Asano spoke suddenly, stimulated by curiosity.  "Forgive me, but on the Mystic Moon, we are taught that Atlantis was a legendary civilisation that probably never existed, that sunk beneath the ocean waves due to a terrible natural disaster of some kind, like an earthquake or volcanic eruption.  There's not a single record of winged people creating new planets there at all."

"Time's inexorable passage will undoubtedly cause the fanciful to fade into folklore, young man."  Eries looked stern.  "Do not belittle our history – for we have many records dedicated to Atlantis.  We believed that all those from the Mystic Moon were hideous monsters – for those are what _our records tell us, not of humans with strange clothes."_

"We're wasting time here!" Celena was indignant.  "We've got to get moving somewhere – otherwise Palas will be in danger!"

Hitomi's eyes widened as the familiar chime tolled in her mind.  The room around her seemed to melt away, as blood-red feathers rained around her once more and the cacophonic laughter of Leah sounded in her mind.  Hitomi tried to break the vision, but was confronted with a blizzard of feathers which, upon examination, were not red in colour, but coated in blood…

Merle shook Hitomi out of her reverie quickly.  "I won't bother asking," she mewed pitifully, looking up at Allen, "as I think we know what's going to happen.  How can we get out?"

Van turned swiftly, and sprinted towards the great doorway.  "I'll hold them off!" he shouted behind him as he heaved the doors open once more before disappearing down the corridor.

"Wait, Van!" Allen shouted after him.  "Don't be so foolish!  You are helpless against them!" His cry echoed down the hallway, but no response came.

Allen turned back to the others.  "I must help him, rash as his actions are, and unbecoming of one in his position.  You two, "he said, pointing at Amano and Asano, "come with me.  We must protect the castle in any way possible."

"What am I supposed to do?"  Amano was scared – he had no idea what the tall blonde knight could want with him, and he desperately wanted to go home.  "I have no skill at anything useful!"

"Don't worry, Amano!" Asano looked grimly cheerful.  "I'm sure you'll manage somehow.  We'd better do the best we can anyway – or do you want to die here?"

Allen strode purposefully to an arch towards the western wall of the audience chamber.  "We'll talk on the way – I must prepare Scherezade."

"I'm coming too!" Merle and Celena spoke in unison.

"Don't be foolish!  Your skill with the sword may be phenomenal, sister, but I cannot endanger you here.  You, Merle, should know better than to expose yourself in such circumstances!"

An enormous crashing sound burst into the room, shaking the foundations of the building.  The three young men regained their balance and headed away, Amano looking back in concern towards Yukari as they disappeared.

 "I guess we had better just stay out of the way for now, then?" Yukari looked around.  "Where can we go?"

"We should help!" Celena was obstinate.  "We can't just run away like we are completely useless!"

"Lord Van!" Merle licked her hand, staring towards the source of the noise with tearful eyes.

"The best use we can be right now is not in the way.  I am…more forgiving than most concerning your situation, Celena, and these new circumstances do not change my feelings."  Eries' eyes softened.  "Nevertheless, if Dilandau is unpredictable, he can be of no use now from what you have told me.  Our priority is to protect Hitomi and her friends for now.  We can use the spies' passageways to escape outside – we'll see what we can do for them then."  Eries pressed a small panel in the wall behind the throne, and the stone ground away almost silently to reveal a set of dark steps leading downwards into the depths of the palace, dust clouds quickly dispersing in the gloom. Beckoning sharply, the Princess disappeared swiftly into the darkness .

 "Van…" Hitomi looked back towards the doors as she hurried away to the labyrinthine corridors and her escape route.

"Where is she?" Leah snarled viciously, her head unmoving as she hovered in mid-air, beating her blood-red wings in time with the sharp pulses of light emitting from her necklace.  Her blinded eyes were covered by a delicate black cloth, yet she confidentally aimed blasts of lightning towards the courtyard beneath her from her fingertips.  The smoking remains of the Palas guards who had deigned to resist the Atlanteans lay on the floor, steam rising from their charred bodies as the pelting rain which unexpectedly raged around the winged invaders struck the as yet uncooled corpses.  One Atlantean held a swordsman in the air with the force of her mind, limbs flailing wildly as she slowly crushed his throat, his compatriots staring unseeingly from below in decaying horror.  Scorch marks marred the glorious architecture, while the fountains that cornered the courtyard crackled with dancing arcs of electricity that seemed to leap to the boiling clouds above.  The dull leather covering used to conceal Escaflowne blazed ferociously, falling in wasted tatters around the Guymelef to expose the unsullied white armour beneath, its cloak somehow still untorn.

"Leah, we cannot sense her.  As far as we can see, she is not here."  The voice of one of Leah's senior Atlanteans, named Marta, echoed through the winged woman's mind.  "The flows of her companions are all around, and lead inside the great doors.  Yet they are now faint, and lead in myriad diverse directions – she is lost to our senses now."

"You fools!" Leah snapped mentally, causing Marta to wince in psychic pain. "I shall find her myself!"

Marta sighed in disappointment as she severed contact with her leader.  For as long as she could recall Leah had been consumed by an overriding passion to carry out any order at whatever cost.  Only Leah was privy to the commands of Venal, and as the leader of the group – the word "flock" sprang to mind, but Marta found it animalistic and brutal – she dictated their actions.  Marta herself was not overtly enamoured of the tasks Venal set them.  She took as little part in the raids as possible, save for carrying out her primary objective – to find the Wing Goddess.

Marta did not know what this Wing Goddess meant to Venal.  All she had been told was that Venal wanted her brought to him alive.  There was obviously something special about the girl Leah had identified as the Goddess – she had blinded Leah after all, and Marta could not divine her course of fate, the one unshakeable constant she believed in save the need to obey Venal.

Marta had not told Leah of the two young humans that had been with the Wing Goddess that day, who had accompanied the one that had summoned the waters which had seared Marta's soul.  She did not think that Leah had noticed that they, too, had no course of fate – after all, they had proved no resistance to the power of Atlantis' people, and she hardly needed to worry about them at this juncture as the Wing Goddess evaded their capture once more.

Leah laughed madly, a deep chuckled that chilled Marta.  "She is nearby – I feel the course of one with her!  Destroy the palace – rend it asunder by your wills, my sisters, in the name of Venal!"  And this time, you shall not stop us, foolish one!"  As she spoke, Leah pointed straight at the wall of the courtyard, to where Van was running towards Escaflowne.  As Van sped on, believing himself to be unnoticed, a single bolt of lightning shot from Leah's outstretched finger, splitting the air asunder as it sped inexorably towards its fleeing target, Leah's triumphant laughter pealing demonically as she felt the fate of triumph wash over her.


End file.
